Come Around Again
by suckerforasmile
Summary: Grissom makes a discovery. // NickxGreg and brief g-rated GSR though it's really not the focus . Timeline has been fiddled with a little.


_Spoiler tags for S9 finale (brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-them spoilers) and for what I think is One to Go from S9. The bit in Hawaii takes place during the finale, while the rest of it takes place a few months prior. __This is, I think, my first time writing in Grissom's point of view - it's scary. He's so... Grissom-y._

_If I remember correctly, the bit in Hawaii was mentioned by Stacy (or Lynn, but I'm thinking Stacy) during the season 9 finale, so. Credit where it's due! :P_

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In all honesty, he hadn't really wanted to return to the Las Vegas crime lab until he and Sara had done the whole kids thing. But Catherine had called, begged him to return to help with a high profile case, and he really couldn't refuse, even when Sara told him to.

"I'll be there, two days, tops," he'd said, ignoring the eye roll he'd received from Sara.

It wasn't much of a surprise when she'd said, "I'm not going with you. Send the team my love," though he really wished she would.

Catherine is obviously surprised when Grissom shows up fourteen hours after she'd called, but she hardly asks, "How's Sara?" before its all business, though high profile meant they had a lot of work to do.

The lab is the same way he'd left it – busy, crowded, loud in a quiet way. He half expected things to morph back into the way they were six years ago, long before they had gotten in the way of life and torn the team – _his_ team, as he still thought of them sometimes – out of their comfort zones completely. Long before Nick's kidnapping had changed them all.

Archie still sits in the A/V lab, Bobby still in Ballistics. Henry in Tox, Hodges in Trace, Mandy in Fingerprints, Wendy in DNA. As he walks through the halls, he receives a nod from Riley Adams, a teary hug from a lab tech he isn't certain he remembers, and various good-to-see-you-again's from nearly anyone he passes.

"Greg and Nicky are still interviewing the father. Ray's in layout four, he'll bring you up to speed. I have a lead to check out at the casino. Sorry I can't stay to welcome you back." Grissom nods, realizing he'd hardly said a word the entire time he'd been back at the lab. He doesn't dwell on it, just watches Catherine as she leaves. He enters the layout room, doing his best to act as though nothing had changed.

Ray smiles a soft smile and shakes his hand. "Good to have you back."

He only offers a small smile in return before he asks what they've gathered on the case. As Ray goes over the evidence, Grissom finds himself falling back into CSI mode quite easily, almost scarily so. He's not sure why he's surprised – he loves the job.

He's just getting back into the swing of things when a door slams heavily, echoing about the lab, and Grissom looks up just in time to see Nick storm down the hallway. That's not strange; Nick hardly ever held his temper on kidnapping cases, and this one clearly is no different. Not ten seconds later, Greg follows, considerably calmer. Unlike his coworker, however, he catches Grissom's eye and waves enthusiastically with a grin through the glass walls. Another door slamming wipes the smile off his face and Greg takes off without a word. Grissom glances at Ray – the evidence is still Ray's focus. He might as well have imagined the entire thing.

He tries not to think of it, really. But it appears that time away has only sharpened his skills rather than dulled them.

Still, he brings himself back to the evidence at hang, which is, after all, the entire reason he'd returned.

Later, he meets up with Catherine and goes over theories – or rather, listens to hers with quiet expertise – and finds his eyes drifting about the lab, her voice drifting in and out of his head.

Ray and Riley are digging through garbage in another layout room, no nonsense; a CSI from swing is walking down the hall with Wendy, going over results that Grissom is sure he already knows; and he can just barely make out the figures of Nick and Greg processing a truck in the garage.

It's not strange because there's no reason it should be, but Grissom gets the same feeling he used to get all the time when he knew he was missing key evidence but couldn't _quite_ put his finger on what. Watching them puts his brain on overdrive, it seems. He's just beginning to wonder why he's treating the two of them like a case when it all clicks into place. He hardly comprehends Catherine's question of "Still with me, Gil?" as his mind is reeling at Nick's last gesture.

Of course, wiping what Grissom can only guess is grease off a coworker's face hardly constitutes as odd, though he can hardly think of one coworker he'd ever feel comfortable doing that to, and he's not even sure if Sara would allow him anymore.

"Gil?" Catherine tries again, and Grissom feels guilty for putting focus onto something other than the case. He knows Catherine expects him to tell her something she'd missed, but he can't. He doesn't even pretend that he knows something she doesn't.

She doesn't look disappointed, just surprised. Nevertheless, Grissom makes it a point to stay focused on the case. He hardly believes his focus is slipping so easily, though if it is, at least he doesn't do this job for a living anymore. Missing crucial evidence could have cost him his job.

It doesn't last long to wrap it all up. When the kidnapped girl is safe again, and the kidnapper found and convicted, Grissom allows himself out of CSI mode. He's pouring his last cup of lab-coffee for his stay when Catherine asks him for dinner.

He wants to say no, tell her than he needs to get back to Sara, but she says that everybody's going out, and Grissom agrees. He can't deny them of that, not when he'd left so suddenly those few months ago. It feels longer. It feels like years.

All throughout dinner, he catches glances, touches between Nick and Greg that he thinks they mean to come off as friendly or accidental, and he's sure they do to the other three. Unfortunately for them, for the past six months, Grissom hasn't seen any of it, and it's blindingly obvious. They take it down a notch when Greg catches him staring, but Grissom already has all the evidence he needs to make an educated assumption about their relationship.

Riley takes off first, then Nick, then Greg, though Grissom is sure that's only to keep up appearances. Something tells him they're headed to the same destination anyway.

He promises them all, as they leave, that he'll be sure to come back soon, and when it's just him and Catherine, the diner filtering out and there's only two tables filled, Grissom decides it's a good time to bring it up.

"How long?"

Catherine glances up at him. "How long what?"

"How long have Nick and Greg been seeing each other?"

Her handwriting falters on the check she's writing. Grissom pretends he doesn't notice. "What?"

"Obvious to the untrained eye, Catherine." He pauses. "You didn't know?"

"Uh, no. Can't say that I did. How did you?"

Another pause. "Different things." He blinks. "You're not going to report it, are you?"

Catherine raises an eyebrow as she tears the check out and tucks her checkbook back into her purse. "That's it? No clever lines about secret love or anything?" Grissom frowns a little, shakes his head. "You're full of surprises lately, Gil. But your secret – _their_ secret – is safe. It's not my place to say anything."

She stands up and hugs him before she goes, and Grissom watches her again as she gets into her car and leaves. He calls Sara, lets her know he'll be back soon, and heads to the airport.

In May, Sara gets restless. Grissom decides a vacation might be good for both of them, so he packs up and ships them off to Hawaii. Nice, safe Hawaii. The chances of either he or Sara running into someone are low, and Grissom likes that. He imagines Sara does as well.

The hotel welcomes them, and the girl at the front desk in the hotel lobby writes up some recommended places to eat while they drop their luggage off in their room. He's just about to tell Sara it's nice to go somewhere and not have hundreds of people immediately recognize you when Nick spots them from afar. His face lights up and he waves at them, making his way through the crowd to greet them. Sara doesn't say anything, so he doesn't either.

"Hey!" His decision to give both of them hugs is not much of a surprise to Grissom. "It's been a while; how are you two?"

"Good, good… It's nice to be away from Las Vegas."

Nick nods with a smile, looks at the scenery around them, and takes a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah it is."

Grissom clears his throat, grabbing the attention of both Sara and Nick and asks, as calm as he can manage, "How's Greg?"

There's hardly a beat, then, "He's good. His book's published now. Give me your address, he'll send you a signed copy." His smile seems even wider at the mention of the other man, and his reaction is all Grissom needs for confirmation.

Sara, after a moment of silence, links her arm with Grissom's and says, "Oh! Happy belated anniversary! How long has it been, now? Three years? Four?"

"Five," Nick replies, glancing at Grissom out of the corner of his eye, like he's waiting for a reaction. Sara smiles. Grissom wonders how he missed it for all those years.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." Another moment of silence. Grissom thinks it should never be this awkward amongst friends and old coworkers. "So what brings you two to Hawaii?"

Sara smiles again, flinging her hair over her shoulder before she responds, "Vacation. You?"

"Entomology conference," he replies with a wide grin directed at Grissom. "Figure all that bug knowledge came in handy, somebody should pick it up."

"And who better than the man who knows birds like the back of his hand?" Grissom says, returning his smile. Nick's eyes twinkle.

"Greg gives me crap for it all the time." A beeper goes off. Nick scrambles to take it from his hip. "And that's him. I have to get back to the conference, though. Maybe we can meet up for dinner sometime while we're all still here?"

Sara nods. "Sure. Yeah. I'll give you a call."

The extent of happiness evident in Nick's features almost knocks Grissom back. "Great. My number's still the same." He grins one last time and leaves. "Bye,"

"Bye," Sara calls to his retreating form. Grissom echoes her after a moment. "So, you knew about them?" she asks, pulling on his arm to get him moving.

"Not really. I only had suspicions. And you?"

Sara takes a moment. "I figured it out close to their one-year anniversary. They were having trouble finding someone who would be willing to cover for Greg's shift, so I volunteered. Nick was bubbling with happiness for the rest of the week. It was almost sickening."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Sara scoffs, looks up at him with her lips pursed in a grin. "Rat them out to the supervisor? I wouldn't be a very good friend then, would I?"

"He seems happy," Grissom notes after a moment.

"Because he is." A beat. "They both are."

Grissom doesn't doubt it.


End file.
